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I don't see a thread but holy poo poo this movie made me sick to my stomache in over patriotism and reckless abandon. If he was such a great sniper with the motto of "Aim small miss small" why didn't he shoot to disarm instead of always shooting to kill? It was just reckless murder by someone who is likely retarded. When asked why he wanted to go to war, the main character said as straight faced and serious as can be, "Because I love my country and will do anything to protect it." It was nauseating. No one thinks like that. The only time this movie eventually got interesting was when PTSD kicks in, but even then he magically gets better thanks to the government funded VA. Seth Rogan was misquoted as saying this film felt like Nazi Propganda (he meant to say it felt like the film at the end of Inglorious Basterds) but even that misquote seemed appropriately right. Don't watch this movie.
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Jan 20, 2015 13:57
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Abu Dave posted:If he was such a great sniper with the motto of "Aim small miss small" why didn't he shoot to disarm instead of always shooting to kill? You tipped your hand too early.
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Jan 20, 2015 14:01
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It makes sense if you see the movie; for example he hovers over a child with a grenade for like three minutes, enough time to aim for the kids leg or arm, the target isn't even really moving. Instead he kills the child.
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Jan 20, 2015 14:02
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Abu Dave posted:When asked why he wanted to go to war, the main character said as straight faced and serious as can be, "Because I love my country and will do anything to protect it." It was nauseating. No one thinks like that. I have some bad news for you.
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Jan 20, 2015 14:52
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I saw this right after I saw Lone Survivor so that might've tipped my mood a bit, but I kinda hated this movie. I appreciate it from a technical standpoint more or less and Cooper did a fine job, but I felt like I've seen this exact movie a million times since the war on terror or whatever it's called now began. Both Lone Survivor and this, while based on true events, felt pretty nauseatingly rah-rah-rah in their adoration of the main characters and in vilifying the antagonists to a ridiculous degree. Also I had no idea the movie was based on real events until the very end, so the ending felt really awkward and clumsily manipulative with playing the "hey maybe everything's going to be okay for this guy and his family" card and then he mentions going out to the range with some PTSD vet and goddamn if I didn't hear bells tolling at that point. Then the movie just ends with a text card saying "Oh by the way, he died that day."
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Jan 20, 2015 15:08
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I didn't really understand the point of the driller guy. I mean he was comic book evil, but Kyle put the family into that situation and caused the death of a innocent child because he was disobeying orders. The film lightly touches on this at the end again when he ruins the soldiers position by being greedy and taking out the racistly named other sniper, but there was no repercussions or anything.
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Jan 20, 2015 15:21
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Yeah, ignoring all the gross and eye-rolling parts of the movie, the worst aspect of it is it's boring as hell. All of the war scenes have been done to death before(the most interesting war scene was the one used in the trailer, and it's the very first scene in the movie) and there seemed to be no passion in it. Then whenever it cut to him at home and threatened to get even slightly interesting they'd undercut it or cut straight back to the war. It was run-of-the-mill boring with an added layer of racism and an air of bullshit.
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Jan 20, 2015 15:21
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Edit: This isn't the GBS thread. Apologies.
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Jan 20, 2015 15:23
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The film is very much propaganda, serving to whitewash both the legacy of Chris Kyle and the Iraq War. We are shown both the embassy bombings and 9/11 as motivation for Chris's personal crusade, yet all his deployments take place in Iraq. Chris is fighting al-Qaeda, yet no time is given to why or how al-Qaeda is in Iraq. Chris was not a humble, regretful soldier seeking to protect others. His own autobiography paints him as a shameless self-promoter, eager to kill, viewing Iraqis as nothing more than animals. This last view is reinforced throughout the length of the film. We are shown Chris pulling the trigger on an Iraqi child, only to have a smash cut to a deer being shot. The movie repeatedly refers to Iraqis as savages, and even with the few humanized Iraqi characters, one is shown to have been "evil" all along.
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Jan 20, 2015 16:15
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Sinnlos posted:one is shown to have been "evil" all along. Spoilering that just in case though I'm not sure this movie deserves it, but among the many moments in this film that made me bust out laughing was Kyle's spidey sense for hidden weapon caches which leads to that exact moment. Christ I just also remembered that this movie has a soldier who talks about proposing to his girlfriend once he gets back from his tour and then immediately gets shot. gently caress this dumb movie.
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Jan 20, 2015 16:43
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Yeah, it was well made and Cooper did an excellent job but overall it was pretty gross. Cooper did REALLY nail the cadence and speech patterns of all the country bumpkins I grew up with.
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Jan 20, 2015 16:46
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I laughed when Cooper decided to join the marines on foot and was like "I know how to infiltrate them deep" or some stupid hoo rah speech. The theatre looked at me like I was insane, but it reminded me of Kenny Powers for some reason. And yeah, the racism was really disgusting. I wonder if this is what Clint wanted the reaction to be.
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Jan 20, 2015 17:34
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My sense was a little different - the movie does a lot of things interestingly I thought, but throws much of it away in the last 15 minutes. The way the protagonist is maneuvered into the position of reluctant hero I thought worked very well, especially when it culminates with the meeting of the grateful vet in the tire shop. Cooper is excellent there, and it's an interesting commentary. Similarly, the impossibly strained relationship with his wife is really well done, and Cooper is really effective in conveying a person unable to communicate. Throughout so much of the movie, we see through Cooper's mask - as someone who is clearly wracked with doubts and guilt that he cannot express. The way that doubt and guilt is resolved - in is like four minutes of jokey banter with wounded vets and horsing around with his daughter, is hollow and unconvincing. The movie gestures at a much more complex and compelling idea when it has Cooper face decisions that have no possible positive outcomes; when they show his brother or fellow seals questioning the point of being in Iraq; when they read a dead marine's letter full of doubt; when they show Cooper as utterly unable to function anywhere but in the warped reality of war. How did he get better?
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Jan 20, 2015 17:36
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The scene where Kyle meets his brother briefly in Iraq could've been poignant but came across to me as a really manipulative device where they just use him as another soldier being whiny about his ~duty~  while super awesome military man patriot Chris Kyle looks at him with confusion and what seems like mild disgust.
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Jan 20, 2015 17:48
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Didn't the dude think he could cure PTSD by just exposing them to firearms as if it's immersion therapy?
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Jan 20, 2015 18:00
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This movie was disgusting and racist. I'm really embarrassed that this film exists.ma i married a tuna posted:Similarly, the impossibly strained relationship with his wife is really well done, and Cooper is really effective in conveying a person unable to communicate. I don't agree with this. I felt like the wife was an overused movie trope and side dressing for the audience and to add pointless conflict to the story. She is just whiny and there to serve Chris Kyle. The whole thing came off as very sexist, rounding out everything disgusting you could shove into one movie. I said come in! fucked around with this message at 18:08 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 20, 2015 18:06
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What I've read about Chris Kyle suggests that he was trigger happy, possibly sociopathic, and a pathological liar whose versions of events can't be taken at face value. Does any of that come through in the movie, or is he just portrayed as some all American hero?
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Jan 20, 2015 18:13
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Dick Fagballzson posted:What I've read about Chris Kyle suggests that he was trigger happy, possibly sociopathic, and a pathological liar whose versions of events can't be taken at face value. Does any of that come through in the movie, or is he just portrayed as some all American hero? What do you think?
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Jan 20, 2015 18:14
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Dick Fagballzson posted:What I've read about Chris Kyle suggests that he was trigger happy, possibly sociopathic, and a pathological liar whose versions of events can't be taken at face value. Does any of that come through in the movie, or is he just portrayed as some all American hero?
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Jan 20, 2015 18:19
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I bet tons of people join the marines or army or whatever after watching this movie. Mission accomplished.
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Jan 20, 2015 18:23
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weekly font posted:What do you think? It sounds like Clint Eastwood made a real life version of Nation's Pride, turning a murderous douche into a big hero we can all rally behind. But I like to actually see films before I judge them.
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Jan 20, 2015 18:26
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Dick Fagballzson posted:It sounds like Clint Eastwood made a real life version of Nation's Pride, turning a murderous douche into a big hero we can all rally behind. But I like to actually see films before I judge them. Nope, roll with that. Don't give this movie your money.
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Jan 20, 2015 18:28
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Dick Fagballzson posted:But I like to actually see films before I judge them. Wikipedia posted:Chris Kyle grew up in Texas, where his father raised him 'to be a sheepdog who protects others, and not a sheep or a wolf.' Kyle is a rodeo cowboy when he sees news coverage of the 1998 United States embassy bombings and enlists in the Navy, where he is eventually accepted for SEAL training, and becomes a U.S. Navy SEAL sniper.
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Jan 20, 2015 18:34
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I said come in! posted:This movie was disgusting and racist. I'm really embarrassed that this film exists. The movie is horrible with its stance on women. The first girlfriend, Sarah, I believe, is introduced to us with a joke about how loose she is. Lo and behold, she is cheating on rugged cool cowboy Chris Kyle. Sarah tells Chris that he is a failure, that he is emotionally distant, and exhibits honesty by stating that she only acts out for attention. The movie conveys through Chris's conversation following the incident that Chris was in the right, even though his emotional distance remains an issue during his relationship to Taya. Taya is introduced to us in a bar, being hit upon by service member. She is a damsel in distress, requiring Chris to save her. She refuses to go home with Chris, and presumably gives him her number. We are shown a scene where Chris is leaving a message on Taya's machine, after he has done so without a response at least twice prior. Chris does not get it, he doesn't take the hint that Taya is ignoring him. During his relationship with Taya, Chris is shown to be distant, and ignores both Taya and his family to pursue a personal crusade in Iraq. The whole film is hosed up front to back. It will be fun doing a comprehensive take down of all the vile layers of poo poo it contains.
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Jan 20, 2015 18:48
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This movie felt like a movie that Clint Eastwood's character in Gran Torino would've enjoyed. I love all the people who are making GBS threads on Seth Rogen for calling it "nazi propaganda" (he didn't, he compared it to a specific movie that exists in another movie) are more than likely the same people who threw money at the Interview because those goddamn communists told them they couldn't and NO FOREIGNER'S GONNA TELL AN AMERICAN WHAT HE CAN OR CAN'T DO.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:17
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Is there no possibility that there's some ironic angle or something on this movie? Hard to believe that the guy who made Letters from Iwo Jima, a movie humanizing enemy combatants, would make a straight jingoistic war propaganda movie. edit: I mean, seriously, LFIJ was more sympathetic to the Japanese soldiers than any American WW2 movie I can recall. Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 20, 2015 19:32
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Steve Yun posted:Is there no possibility that there's some ironic angle or something on this movie? Hard to believe that the guy who made Letters from Iwo Jima, a movie humanizing enemy combatants, would make a straight jingoistic war propaganda movie. After that 20-minute rant where he told an empty chair representing an invisible Obama to shut up, it gets less surprising.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:36
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If you look at it as a movie about a mentally disabled racist misogynist who joins the army then MAYBE. But that's a pretty big ask.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:37
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Steve Yun posted:Is there no possibility that there's some ironic angle or something on this movie? Hard to believe that the guy who made Letters from Iwo Jima, a movie humanizing enemy combatants, would make a straight jingoistic war propaganda movie. The movie deals with PTSD, and does convey how war fucks people up, but then reverses that message when the protagonist overcomes PTSD through sheer willpower and shooting. Every Iraqi character is a bad guy. The dude who's poor as gently caress family gets their house invaded by SEALs turns around and offers everyone dinner. Sounds nice. Turns out he is hiding weapons! Guess we ought to beat the poo poo out of him, and then send him into a situation where he will probably be killed! The old man who didn't evacuate because his daughter is injured and therefore can't leave? He's greedy for wanting compensation and protection. The movie completely glosses over the justifications for the Iraq war. It paints a picture where the US is not the aggressive invader, nor even a liberator. All brown people are bad. Shoot all males of military age.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:51
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Steve Yun posted:Is there no possibility that there's some ironic angle or something on this movie? Hard to believe that the guy who made Letters from Iwo Jima, a movie humanizing enemy combatants, [b]would make a straight jingoistic war propaganda movie.]/b] If you've read the book, Eastwood/the producers actually toned down the Jingoism. The move presents a side of Kyle that is totally absent from his own Autobiography and focuses on it entirely (the PTSD). Funny thing: No mention of PTSD exists in his book. It's not mentioned by name, alluded to, nor is it's (potential) effect on Kyle mentioned. On the opposite side Kyle spends an absurd amount of time talking about the many physical injuries he suffered in Iraq. I'm going to do a larger write up because I've been waiting for a place to talk about this (that isn't reddit, where any in depth analysis is met with "lol it was a good movie shut up"). There are a number a major changes made between the book and the movie that end up presenting an entirely different person than who Kyle himself said he was. I know that the man was probably a habitual liar, but his own version of his life still matters when it comes to the way the public ends up perceiving him.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:53
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Steve Yun posted:Is there no possibility that there's some ironic angle or something on this movie? Hard to believe that the guy who made Letters from Iwo Jima, a movie humanizing enemy combatants, would make a straight jingoistic war propaganda movie.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:54
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I sincerely love the GOD BLESS AMERICA BLESS OUR TROOPS GO FIGHT IN A WAR HIPPIE reactions that any negative opinion about this movie is stirring up in idiots.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:56
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Stare-Out posted:Letters from Iwo Jima was a good movie. But Eastwood also made Flags of Our Fathers the same year as a counterpart to it which made the former less effective for me. "Flags" wasn't quite as revoltingly patriotic as this movie is but was more like a wet fart after "Letters". I'm actually wondering how much power Eastwood had over this film. Remember it was originally a Spielberg project before he dropped out for whatever reason. So the script was already written when Eastwood was brought on. The "paint the rabid jingoist as a sympathetic/tragic character" may have been a producer decision in response to how the general public has shifted on it's support of the Iraq war. Instead of the "gently caress the ragheads! were are liberators!" Kyle they decided to present the "Oh god I was just trying to do my best! But even with good intentions I have been broken by WAR!" Kyle.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:58
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There's a scene where they try to humanize Mustafa (another line in very racist terms this movie uses) by showing he had a wife and daughter but this comes after you see that the wife is responsible for "ratting out" the location of troops. It's just really really gross. Like I had no knowledge going in about the movie when i first saw it, so I thought the first scene was setting him up as a child murderer. Then the "because I love america" poo poo came in and welp.
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Jan 20, 2015 20:04
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Sinnlos posted:The whole film is hosed up front to back. It will be fun doing a comprehensive take down of all the vile layers of poo poo it contains. It's empty consolation because you're still living in a country where a good 30-40% of the population enthusiastically supports all of it
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Jan 20, 2015 20:05
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icantfindaname posted:It's empty consolation because you're still living in a country where a good 30-40% of the population enthusiastically supports all of it I watched this with a friend and on the way out of the theatre I made a joke about it being about "a retard who murders innocents" and she started crying and playing the silent game and it will prob be the end of our friendship so thats why I triply hate this movie.
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Jan 20, 2015 20:07
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weekly font posted:I sincerely love the GOD BLESS AMERICA BLESS OUR TROOPS GO FIGHT IN A WAR HIPPIE reactions that any negative opinion about this movie is stirring up in idiots. My favorite thing is that Vietnam led to a rift in the political culture that's still noticeable to this day, with some hard lessons learned, but loving nobody is held accountable for Iraq.
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Jan 20, 2015 20:14
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This movie is a video game. I didn't hate the experience, because I'm a sucker for watching anything in a movie theater, but holy poo poo was just about everything in it wrong. Not only factually but morally.
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Jan 20, 2015 20:17
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icantfindaname posted:It's empty consolation because you're still living in a country where a good 30-40% of the population enthusiastically supports all of it I know all too well. It will be be an empty gesture, yet a personally satisfying one. The alternative is becoming an alcoholic again. People were crying as we left the theater. They felt real loss, they felt that this was a hero that died helping others to the very end. I was told that Chris Kyle sacrificing his family was "noble" and "heroic". We have forgotten why we went to Iraq, and this movie helps prove it.
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Jan 20, 2015 20:24
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We never knew in the first place why we went to Iraq. The whole affair was a fraudulent waste of life that's accomplished nothing but destabilization.
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Jan 20, 2015 20:33
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